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In the last article I discussed the difference between the
two “visions”: What the body’s eyes report and the meaning (or the awareness of
no meaning) that your mind projects or extends. Spiritual Vision is not just a
“nicer” way of interpreting the world. It is a wholly different vision that you
can invite and welcome, but you cannot make it happen. It comes to you when you
are ready and open to It.
When I was a new student of A Course in Miracles for a few months I experienced the Vision of
the Holy Relationship with another. I saw that we were one and the same,
obviously not as bodies and personalities, but in Truth. The inner Vision I had
was that the Truth in her was the exact same Truth in me. Even thinking about
her brought an experience of deep recognition beyond any human experience. This
is the experience that Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford had. I recognized it
completely when I read the passages in ACIM about the Holy Relationship. This
Vision is what, in ACIM, Helen was…

A Course in Miracles
talks about two “visions”, “sights”, or “perceptions”. (In my translation into
plain language I used only “perception” for clarity). This “seeing” is not done
with the body’s eyes. It is an inner seeing. It occurs in the mind from one of
two unconnected places in your mind. It is much like these two visions are two
different platforms in your mind. One platform, the lower platform, is in the
world. On that platform you are very involved with the world. You can move
around on that platform and look at the world from different angles, but all of
those angles are on the same level. The change in view is not a real change. It
is simply a different angle on the same thing. For example, you learn something
new about someone and you “see them in a new light”. Outwardly they have not
changed, so you do not “see” them in a new physical
light. You see them from a new point of view within your mind. Your inner vision of them changed. You stood in a
different place on that lo…

First, this mind believed it was a self in a process toward
the goal of peace. Then one day it had an experience while meditating that Truth is right here. It was the Holy
Instant and It was breathtaking. This mind realized that in meditation, and in
everything else, it always reached for Truth.
And in that reaching it over-reached
Truth and missed It because Truth is
right here. It was like when the self looks for the mustard in the
refrigerator but does not see it because the mustard is right in front of it
and the self is looking past it to find it.
And then the awareness of the immediate Presence of Truth
was gone. Each day in meditation this mind tried to be present and experience
the Truth again but could not. It could remember the experience but not conjure
it. How long did this go on? Months? Years? Then it happened again and this
mind would think, “This is it. This is all I need to experience. This is all I
need to remember. Stop reaching. It’s here now.” And then…It couldn’…

This mind is grateful that its current stage of awareness of
Truth coincided with this body’s peaking in peri-menopause because otherwise it
would be a neurotic mess. If peri-menopause had happened earlier in this mind’s
developing awareness of Truth this mind would be totally distracted by the physical,
psychological, and emotional effects of the wild and unpredictable surges in
hormones that are the natural process of this stage of the body’s life. The body would require hormone replacement
therapy at minimum and perhaps anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicines.
This time of life for the body coinciding with this stage of growing awareness
of the mind has in fact helped this mind to hone its detachment from the body,
the self, and its story. It has helped it to see that there is no real
difference between a “good” mood and a “bad” one in that they occur in the same
self-identified part of mind. It has helped this mind to see all moods as one
single experience – the human experi…

I used to have episodes of panic attacks. After the panic
attack subsided I’d remain in a heightened state of anxiety for days in dread
of more panic attacks. This heightened state of anxiety led to more panic
attacks, more anxiety, more panic attacks, etc. It was a vicious cycle.
Eventually I learned that the primary cause of my panic
attacks was some small change in my body that I would pick up subconsciously
and that would lead to fearful thoughts just below my conscious awareness.
These thoughts would lead to the rush of adrenaline that fueled the panic
attacks. For example, I noticed I often had panic attacks at the beginning of
Fall. When I paid attention I became aware that there was a very slight
thickening feeling in my bronchia. I was experiencing a small allergic
response. I would subconsciously pick up on this and I’d have thoughts just
below my conscious awareness that I was suffocating. But even after I
discovered this I felt powerless to do anything about it. I tried t…

I have been a student of A Course in Miracles since 1984, a life coach since 2000, and a mentor for students of A Course in Miracles and 4 Habits for Inner Peace since 2006. You can learn more about me and what I offer at my website, www.acimmentor.com.